SaaS Hosting Cost Calculator
Vercel is hard to beat for a prototype. Run the numbers for the moment your app needs a backend, Postgres, Stripe, emails, logs, and deploys you control.
Your Setup
e.g. frontend, backend, API, worker
Across all services combined
Disk space for app + data
Estimated Monthly Cost
Save $682/year
with Hetzner vs the average of other providers
When one server starts to make sense
If all you need is a frontend demo, use the easiest hosted preview you can. The calculation changes when the app becomes a SaaS with a persistent backend, database, billing webhooks, email, logs, secrets, and repeatable deploys.
Most SaaS products don't need microservices, Kubernetes, or multi-region deployments. A single Hetzner server with 8-32 GB RAM can comfortably handle thousands of users.
With Stacknaut, your frontend, backend, and database all run on one box. Deploy with a single command. You avoid load balancer fees, inter-service networking charges, and surprise bills.
Even better — you can run multiple apps on the same server. Testing three SaaS ideas? That's one $27/month server, not three separate $50+/month hosting bills. For indie developers searching for product-market fit, this alone can save hundreds per month.
When you need to scale, you can. But most indie SaaS products never reach that point — and the ones that do are profitable enough to afford it.
Own the boring infrastructure
Move from hosted prototype to owned SaaS foundation.
The calculator shows the monthly cost once backend, Postgres, Stripe, logs, and deploys matter. Stacknaut gives you the code and infrastructure to run that setup.
What you get in Stacknaut
- One-server architecture for frontend, backend, API, Postgres, and logs
- Terraform and Kamal config you can adapt instead of inventing
- Async Guided Launch support for the first deploy on the $799 tier
These are ballpark estimates to give you a rough comparison. Every provider prices things differently — per-seat, per-service, usage-based, with free tiers, credits, and overages that make exact comparisons difficult. Hetzner costs assume a single dedicated-vCPU server (CCX series, EU region) running all services. Vercel costs include external backend hosting since it can't run persistent servers. Based on published pricing as of February 2026.